CVE-2002-1459 in L-Forum
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting vulnerability in L-Forum 2.40 and earlier, when the "Enable HTML in messages" option is off, allows remote attackers to insert arbitrary script or HTML via message fields including (1) From, (2) E-Mail, and (3) Subject.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/14/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2002-1459 represents a classic cross-site scripting flaw within the L-Forum 2.40 software and earlier versions. This security weakness specifically manifests when the forum administrator has disabled HTML processing in messages, creating a false sense of security that proves to be fundamentally flawed. The vulnerability affects three critical message fields including the From field, Email field, and Subject field, making it particularly dangerous as these are essential components of forum communication that users interact with regularly. The flaw exists despite the HTML processing being disabled, indicating a critical oversight in the input validation and sanitization mechanisms implemented by the software developers.
This vulnerability operates under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws where untrusted data is improperly incorporated into web pages without proper validation or encoding. The attack vector allows remote adversaries to inject malicious scripts or HTML code directly into the forum interface through message fields that are typically considered safe from such attacks. The security implications are particularly severe because forum platforms serve as communication hubs where users trust the content and interface to be secure, making this vulnerability exploitable for various malicious purposes including session hijacking, credential theft, and redirection to malicious sites.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection as it fundamentally compromises the integrity and trustworthiness of the forum environment. When attackers successfully exploit this flaw, they can manipulate the display of forum content to execute arbitrary code in the context of other users' browsers. This creates opportunities for attackers to steal cookies, session tokens, or personal information from forum participants, effectively allowing unauthorized access to user accounts and potentially the entire forum administration system. The vulnerability also enables social engineering attacks where malicious content can be crafted to appear legitimate within the forum's interface, making detection and prevention significantly more challenging.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2002-1459 should focus on immediate remediation through software updates to versions that properly address the input validation issues. Organizations should implement comprehensive input sanitization mechanisms that properly encode all user-provided data regardless of HTML processing settings, ensuring that even when HTML is disabled, potentially malicious content cannot be executed. Network administrators should consider implementing web application firewalls to monitor and block suspicious script injection attempts, while also establishing proper logging and monitoring procedures to detect exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of defense in depth strategies and proper security testing, particularly for web applications that handle user-generated content, as it demonstrates how seemingly secure configurations can still contain critical flaws that undermine overall security posture. Additionally, user education regarding suspicious forum content and regular security audits should be implemented to minimize the risk of exploitation and ensure long-term protection against similar vulnerabilities.